U.S. Presidential Election Campaign Game and Method of Play

ABSTRACT

Described is a United States presidential election campaign board game. The board game includes a game board on which a map of the United States is drawn, wherein the map shows the boundaries between the different states. The game board includes an election headquarters space that is centrally located on the map and which provides the starting space for the game. Players take turns rolling a die that determines the number of spaces players can move along any of a plurality of player paths towards several campaign centers. Players start the game with a predetermined amount of money and raise and spend campaign funds throughout the game in order to gain the highest number of electoral votes. Campaign funds can be used to win electoral votes at each campaign center, and players can gain electoral votes by rolling a die or by drawing from a deck of game cards.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/833,727 filed on Jun. 11, 2013, entitled “Campaign for the Presidency.” The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an educational U.S. presidential election campaign board game. More specifically, the present invention provides a United States presidential election campaign board game wherein players compete to accumulate the required number of electoral votes to become president. The present invention includes a game board having a map of the United States drawn thereon, wherein each state is labeled with its name and number of electoral votes. Players take turns moving player pieces along a plurality of player paths in order to reach several campaign centers. Throughout the game, players raise campaign funds and expend the funds in an attempt to gain electoral votes. The board game combines elements of strategy and chance, and in some situations players must roll a particular number on a die or follow the directions provided on a game card.

The United States presidential election system is unique and may be difficult for students or others new to the system to grasp. Presidential candidates campaign across the country in an attempt to win the popular vote in each state. Each state is assigned a predetermined number of electoral votes, and the general rule is that the winner of the popular vote in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes. To win the presidential election, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes. Thus, this system provides for intriguing elections that involve more than a simple summation of the votes cast for each candidate. Understanding the electoral college system and its intricacies may be challenging for students and others new to the United States presidential election system.

While many games are strictly for leisure and offer little educational benefit, some games may be based on educational information and allow players to more easily learn and grasp new topics. Board games provide an entertaining and social way for people to learn new information in a casual and low stress environment. Rather than studying or taking notes, people may play an educational game in order to become acquainted with new information and players are able to learn from one another. Thus, a board game having the theme of a United States presidential election campaign may provide players with an entertaining way to learn about the United States presidential election system.

The present invention describes a board game in which players compete by raising campaign funds and expending those funds in order to gain the 270 electoral votes needed to become the president. The present invention includes a game board that comprises a plurality of player paths which connect multiple campaign centers, and on each turn players roll a die to determine the number of spaces the player may move. Players have the freedom to choose to move on any player path towards any campaign center desired. Each campaign center provides players with access to a particular grouping of states, and players may gain electoral votes from any of the states in that grouping. Alternatively, players can gain campaign funds and electoral votes by chance by drawing game cards from a deck when players land on particular spaces on the game board. Thus, the present invention provides an educational United States presidential election themed board game that combines elements of strategy and luck.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to United States presidential election games. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to United States presidential election board games wherein players compete to gain electoral votes. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.

One such device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,066 to Ali entitled “U.S. Presidential Election Game and Method of Playing” which discloses a board game wherein each player or team of players is a political party, such as the Republican party or the Democratic party. The game includes a playing surface on which a map of the United States is drawn. For each state, players roll a die having percentages of votes imprinted thereon, and whichever player has the highest percentage of votes wins that state. The game proceeds in this fashion, state by state, until one player or team of players has accumulated the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency. Thus, Ali discloses a game wherein players win a state's electoral votes simply by rolling a die. Ali does not disclose a game wherein players strategically move player pieces across a game board, and further does not disclose a game that uses a deck of cards having gameplay instructions written thereon.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,390 to Delgado entitled “Election Board Game with Campaign Promise Markers” discloses a board game having a playing surface on which a continuous play path having spaces that indicate either game play instructions or a political subdivision, such as a state or a group of states. Players move along the play path by rolling an ordinary die that indicates the number of spaces the player shall move. Players each have a set of campaign promise pieces corresponding to different industries. When a player lands on a space corresponding to a political subdivision, the player can make a campaign promise, and will be awarded a predetermined number of votes depending upon the particular subdivision and the particular campaign promise. Thus, Delgado does not disclose a board game wherein the game board has a variety of paths that give players a choice of how to move around the game board. Further, Delgado does not involve the use of game cards including trivia questions about presidential history or election history.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,265,544 to Dungy entitled “Educational Voting Game” discloses an online voting game that educates players on the mechanisms of running for an elected office. Players register to the game and can either participate as voters or can elect to run for office. Players can create profiles and can upload content such as video clips in order to persuade voters to vote for that player. Thus, Dungy discloses an online game for a multitude of players and does not disclose the use of a board game, dice, or game pieces.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,120 to Frank-Opigo entitled “U.S. Presidential Campaign and Election Game” discloses a board game comprising a game board, a pair of dice, and a deck of fifty-one cards. Two players, representing the Presidential candidates for the two major political parties compete to gain the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. The game board comprises eighty-eighty squares arranged in a grid with eight rows and eleven columns. Fifty-one squares correspond to the fifty states and the District of Columbia, and the states are divided into locked states, swing states, and lost states. Players are dealt a set of cards corresponding to various states at the beginning of the game and must roll dice in order to obtain additional state cards and electoral votes. Thus, Frank-Opigo does not describe a board game in which players move along player paths between campaign centers and does not describe a game wherein players raise and expend campaign funds.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,076 to Jackson et al. entitled “Game of Presidents and the Electoral College Voting System” discloses a game board comprising a map of the United States wherein each state is a puzzle piece. Each state has a particular number of electoral votes and players can accumulate electoral votes by gaining possession of four contiguous states. Players are dealt playing cards wherein each card corresponds to a different state. In operation, a first player must request a contiguous state card from the other players, if another player has such a card, that player must give it to the first player. Otherwise, the first player must draw a new card from the deck. Thus, Jackson et al. fails to describe a board game wherein players raise and spend campaign funds in an attempt to gain electoral votes, and wherein players roll die to obtain electoral votes.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,816 to Milazzo entitled “Political Game” discloses a board game wherein players compete to accumulate the 270 electoral votes necessary to become president. The game board comprises a continuous loop around the periphery of the board, wherein the loop is composed of individual spaces which consist of political fortune zones and states. Thus, Milazzo fails to disclose a game wherein players can choose how to travel across the game board and wherein players can travel in any direction on a variety of paths.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,520,508 to Redd entitled “Board Game Apparatus for Teaching Electoral College, Historical and Geographical Concepts” discloses a game having a game board with a map of the United States and playing cards wherein each card corresponds to a particular state. Players attempt to gather a group of contiguous state cards by asking other players for cards or by drawing a card from a deck. Thus, Redd does not disclose a board game wherein players raise and spend campaign funds in order to gain electoral votes. Further, Redd does not disclose a game wherein players move along player paths towards various campaign centers corresponding to particular groupings of several states.

These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. Several games known in the prior art provide a continuous player path wherein players roll dice to move along the player path. However, these games only allow players to travel in a loop which may become boring and cause players to lose interest after multiple revolutions. The present invention instead discloses a game wherein there is a multiplicity of player paths that can be traversed in any pattern or direction, providing for a different game play experience each time the game is played. Other games in the prior art allow players to win a state and its electoral votes simply by rolling a die to obtain the highest number. Games of this nature involve little or no strategy and rely solely on luck for players to gain electoral votes. Thus, an educational presidential election board game is desired wherein players have freedom to move in various directions and wherein players must employ strategy in order to win the game.

In light of the devices known in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing presidential election board games. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of presidential election board games now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new presidential election board game wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when playing a board game simulating a United States presidential election campaign wherein players compete to raise campaign funds and gain the highest number of electoral votes.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved presidential election campaign board game that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an entertaining and educational board game that teaches players about the United States electoral college.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a presidential election board game that combines elements of strategy and luck.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a presidential election board game wherein players raise campaign funds and expend the funds in an attempt to gain electoral votes from various states of the United States.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a presidential election board game that may be readily fabricated from materials that permit relative economy and are commensurate with durability.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows an overhead view of an embodiment of the game board of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method of playing the game of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the presidential election campaign board game. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for playing a presidential election campaign board game. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an overhead view of an embodiment of the game board of the present invention. The presidential election campaign board game of the present invention includes a game board 11 having a map of the United States 12 drawn thereon. The map of the United States 12 shows the boundaries between the states. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each state is labeled with the state's name, number of electoral votes, and a roll number.

Several campaign centers 14 are distributed throughout the map of the United States 12, and each campaign center 14 corresponds to a particular grouping of states, referred to as a campaign center region 15. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the campaign center 14 in the southwest corresponds to the grouping of states consisting of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Each campaign center region comprises indicia to differentiate that region from the other regions. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each campaign center region 15 is shown on the map of the United States 12 in a different color so as to clearly differentiate each campaign center region.

A plurality of player paths 16 connect the campaign centers 14 to one another and to an election headquarters 13. The election headquarters 13 is located centrally on the map and provides the starting space for gameplay. Some player paths 16 intersect with other player paths 16 so as to provide players with additional options for how to travel across the game board 11. Thus, players are provided with a variety of player paths 16 on which they can travel to reach the various campaign centers 14, and players can travel to campaign centers in any order desired. Depending on each player's strategy, some players may choose to travel to a nearby campaign center that can be quickly reached, while other players may wish to travel to a more distant campaign center so as to avoid other players. The player paths 16 comprise a plurality of individual spaces 17 which player pieces can occupy. The spaces 17 are colored, red, white, and blue. If a player lands on a red space, the player must draw a game card from a deck of game cards and follow the instructions thereon.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a flowchart of an exemplary method of game play of the present invention. The board game of the present invention 18 provides a game board on which a map of the United States is drawn as shown at step 20. To begin the game, between two and six players each choose a unique player piece, as shown at step 21 to move around the game board. Each player starts the game with a predetermined amount of money as shown at step 22, which in some embodiments of the board game of the present invention is $25,000. Money is provided in specific denominations to simplify the math required to play the game, and denominations may include $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $20,000. All players start at the election headquarters space as shown at step 23 located centrally on the map of the United States. During the game, players may raise additional campaign funds by drawing game cards or by correctly answering trivia questions. However, players may also lose campaign funds by drawing game cards or answering trivia questions incorrectly. Further, players must pay campaign center fees in order to campaign for electoral votes in a particular campaign center region.

Players may designate a particular player to be the “banker” to handle the monetary exchanges that occur throughout the game or players may elect to share this responsibility. Additional disbursements of money as dictated by gameplay can be made from the “bank” that is provided with the game. The bank may also be used as needed to exchange a larger denomination for several smaller denominations having the same total value.

To determine which player starts the game, players take turns rolling a conventional die having numbers one through six imprinted on the faces thereof, and the player that rolls the highest number starts the game. Play then proceeds in successive fashion and moves to the player to the right of the first player. Beginning with the first player, players roll the die as shown at step 24 to determine how many spaces that player will move during his or her turn. Players may move along any path that branches off from the election headquarters and may move towards any campaign center desired. However, each campaign center has a campaign center fee that the player must pay to the bank in order to use that campaign center. Thus, in the beginning of the game, where players have relatively little money, there may only be a few campaign centers that players may have enough money to utilize.

If a player's piece lands on a red space as shown at step 25 after the player moves the number of spaces corresponding to the number rolled on the die, the player must draw a game card as shown at step 26. The cards in the deck of game cards have a variety of content and gameplay directives thereon. Some game cards may prompt a player to move forward or backward a designated number of spaces. Other game cards may require a player to pay a fee or collect campaign funds. If a player draws a card that requires the player to pay a fee, but the player does not have enough funds to pay the fee, that player must return to the space the player occupied at the beginning of the turn, and in effect lose a turn. Other cards award the player with the electoral votes of a particular state. If another player already possesses the electoral votes of the state on the drawn game card, that player loses the electoral votes and must give the player who drew the card the corresponding state card. If during the player's turn, the player accumulates 270 electoral votes as shown at step 27, that player wins the presidency and the game ends as shown at step 28.

Other game cards contain United States presidential trivia or election questions that players must answer in order to gain or lose campaign funds. The player that draws the trivia question may elect to ask any other player the trivia question. If the other player answers incorrectly, the player that drew the card collects $5,000 from the player that answered incorrectly. If the other player answers correctly, then that player collects $10,000 from the bank.

Once a player reaches a campaign center as shown at step 36, a player must pay the campaign center fee as shown at step 37 in order to gain electoral votes at that campaign center. If the campaign center fee is paid, the player may draw a game card from a deck of game cards as shown at step 38, and may roll a die as indicated at step 32 in an attempt to gain electoral votes from the states in that campaign center region. As discussed above, each campaign center corresponds to a particular grouping of states or campaign center region. Each state has a predetermined number of electoral votes. Further, each state has a “roll number” marked thereon, and in order for a player to gain a state's electoral votes, the player must roll that state's roll number. Each state in a campaign center region is assigned a roll number, wherein the roll number is selected from the group of numerals one through six, corresponding to the numbers on the faces of the die.

In general, no two states in the same campaign center region have the same roll number. However, some campaign center regions may need to have more than six states so that all fifty states of the United States are represented by a single campaign center. As a result, campaign center regions having more than six states may have two states which share a roll number. Preferably, the two states represented by the same roll number have a relatively low number of electoral votes. When a player acquires a particular state by rolling that state's roll number as shown at step 33, that player gains that state's electoral votes as shown at step 34, and the player must then pick up the corresponding state card from a deck of state cards as shown at step 35 to help keep track of the states the player possesses. Once a state is possessed by a player, no other player can roll the die to win that state. However, if a state has been won by a first player, and a second player draws a game card that states the second player has won that state, the first player must relinquish that state card to the second player.

The first player to enter a campaign center must pay the campaign center fee, however, once fifty percent or more of the electoral votes in a campaign center have been claimed by players, any additional players that visit the campaign center only have to pay a fee corresponding to the remaining electoral votes in that campaign center. For example, if only five electoral votes remain, then a player may pay $1,000 per electoral vote, and thus $5,000 in total in order to campaign in that state. In this way, players to arrive first at a campaign center suffer the drawback of having to pay the entire campaign center fee, but have the benefit of being the first to attempt to roll the die to win electoral votes from the states in that campaign center region.

When a player is on a campaign center at the beginning of his or her turn as shown at step 29, that player can choose to move to a new campaign center as shown at step 31 and may then roll the die and move the number of spaces corresponding to the number rolled as shown at step 30. The player may wish to continue attempting to roll a state's roll number as shown at step 32 when the campaign center region has several unclaimed states or wherein the remaining states have a relatively high number of electoral votes. However, when many of the states in the campaign center region have already been won, or wherein the only remaining states in a campaign center region have a small number of electoral votes, a player may wish to move to a new campaign center.

As players win the electoral votes of a particular state by rolling the roll number of the state when on a campaign center space or by drawing a card that provides electoral votes, the player must draw the corresponding state card from a deck of state cards. The deck of state cards includes a card for each state as well as the District of Columbia. Each card indicates the number of electoral votes of the state. These cards help players to keep track of the states that the player possesses, the number of electoral votes the player possesses, and the states that are still available. Additionally, players may keep track of the number of electoral votes by hand using a pen or pencil and paper.

Once all of the states have been won or otherwise possessed by the players, each player adds up the electoral votes he or she has accumulated. The player with the lowest number of electoral votes is eliminated and that player's electoral votes become available for the remaining players to acquire. Players continue taking turns rolling the die and moving across the game board until one player has amassed 270 electoral votes as shown at step 27, the number required to win the presidential election and end the game as shown at step 28.

The United States presidential election system is unique in the use of an electoral college system in which states are assigned a number of electoral votes, and the candidate that wins the popular vote in that state wins all of the state's electoral votes. The candidate that is the first to gain 270 electoral votes wins the election. This system may be confusing for students or for other individuals not familiar with the presidential election system in the United States. In order to help students learn new and challenging information, games based on educational information can be used to help students learn in an entertaining and casual setting in the company of other people.

The present invention provides a United States presidential election board game in which players compete to gain electoral votes in order to become the president. A game board is provided on which a map of the United States is drawn. Players start at an election headquarters located centrally on the map and move along a plurality of player paths towards campaign centers by rolling a die. Players raise campaign funds and expend those funds in attempt to gain electoral votes. Further, the board game of the present invention includes an element of luck in that players must draw game cards with a variety of instructions thereon, and player movement is dictated by rolling die. Game cards also include trivia cards that require players to answer presidential trivia correctly in order to gain campaign funds.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

I claim: 1) A United States presidential election campaign board game, comprising: a game board having a map of the United States drawn thereon, wherein said map shows the boundaries between each state; a plurality of campaign centers distributed throughout said map, wherein each of said campaign centers corresponds to a particular grouping of states; an election headquarters located centrally on said map wherein said election headquarters serves as a starting point for gameplay; a plurality of spaces which are arranged so as to provide player paths, wherein said player paths connect said plurality of campaign centers and said election headquarters and wherein one or more of said player paths intersect; a plurality of player pieces used by each player to traverse said spaces on said player paths; a deck of game cards wherein each card comprises game play instructions thereon; one or more die for determining the number of spaces said player piece must move during a player's turn; a bank comprising a plurality of denominations of game money for distribution to players throughout gameplay. 2) The board game of claim 1, wherein said deck of game cards includes cards comprising presidential and election trivia questions. 3) The board game of claim 1, wherein each state on said game board is labeled with said state's name, number of electoral votes, and a roll number corresponding to said numbers on said die. 4) The board game of claim 1, wherein each of said groupings of states is a different color. 5) The board game of claim 1, wherein said plurality of spaces comprises red, white, and blue spaces, wherein a player must draw from said deck of game cards when a player piece lands on a red space. 6) The board game of claim 1, wherein said denominations include $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $20,000. 7) The board game of claim 1, further comprising a deck of state cards wherein each card in said deck of state cards corresponds to one of the fifty states or the District of Columbia. 8) The board game of claim 1, wherein each state corresponds to only one of said campaign centers. 9) A method for playing a U.S. presidential election campaign board game, comprising the steps of: providing a game board on which a map of the United States is drawn, and on which a plurality of campaign centers are distributed; wherein said campaign centers are connected by a plurality of spaces that define player paths; wherein an election headquarters is connected to said player paths and provides a starting point for gameplay; providing each of several players with a unique player piece; providing each of several players with a predetermined amount of game money; placing said player pieces on said election headquarters; rolling a die to indicate the number of spaces a player piece must move during a player's turn; moving said player piece towards said campaign centers wherein players can gain electoral votes at said campaign centers; continuing to travel to said campaign centers to gain electoral votes until a player accumulates a required number of electoral votes to win the presidency. 10) The method of play of claim 9, further comprising the step of: paying a campaign center fee when a player piece occupies one of said campaign centers. 11) The method of play of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: rolling a die when a player piece lands on one of said campaign centers, wherein a player gains electoral votes of a state in said campaign center's grouping of states when said player rolls a number corresponding to a state's roll number. 12) The method of play of claim 9, further comprising the step of: drawing a game card from a deck of game cards and following the instructions thereon when a player lands on a designated space. 13) The method of play of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: selecting a game card wherein said game card comprises a presidential trivia question; asking a second player to answer said presidential trivia question; paying money to said second player for answering said presidential trivia question correctly. 14) The method of play of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: winning a state's electoral votes; drawing a state card corresponding to said state. 